A LOOK BACK: DURKHEIM AS A KINSHIP THEORIST

Abstract

Generally known points of Emile Durkheim’s sociological and anthropological theory sometimes conceal kinship theory as an aspect of his opus, and as one of the moments in the development of kinship research in social sciences. One should primarily stress Durkheim’s separation of biological aspect of kinship from its social aspect which was his sole interest in this field – this represented a turn from the evolutionary definition of kinship as a biological category. A certain theoretical paradox can be observed in Durkheim – while he renounces evolutionary speculations on origin, he retains views on schematic typology of societies (encompassing two basic types of societies stemming from organic or mechanical solidarity). However, placing the synchronic perspective in the definition of social facts, including kinship, represented a turning point which marked the research of kinship in the first half of the 20th century.